This year will mark the second Black Friday NFL game for Amazon Prime Video, as the Kansas City Chiefs host the Las Vegas Raiders at 3 p.m. ET.
While last year’s game was a blowout and this year’s matchup is less than stellar even with the presence of the Chiefs, Prime Video executives already have their sights set on bigger and better for Black Friday 2025.
The company teased its plans during the Sports Business Journal Media Innovators Conference this month.
“We’re officially making it a sports holiday, which we love,” Amazon head of U.S. live sports Danielle Carney told SBJ.
The reason Prime Video is excited for 2025 and beyond is that the streamer will air a Black Friday NBA game starting when its rights deal with that league begins next fall.
Prime Video head of sports programming Jeff Kaiser told SBJ that fans should expect up to 12 hours of exclusive live sports content on the platform next year.
“We’re thinking really big about it,” Kaiser said. “Could two of those games be from the same city, potentially? Can we integrate the different talent we have on our NBA shows with our NFL show?”
In 2023, Amazon’s Black Friday game averaged fewer than 10 million viewers as Miami blew out the Jets. Games must be early to not break the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961, which specifies broadcast windows for the pro football, high school and college football.
That means the NFL would likely lead into the NBA, which could work in Amazon’s favor. As the streamer reportedly pursues Blake Griffin to lead its studio coverage, could we see another game in New York followed by a Madison Square Garden nightcap where Griffin has some fun with Ryan Fitzpatrick or Richard Sherman?
It sure sounds like it.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.